Gather all the ingredients. I usually put the thinly sliced beef in the freezer for 10 minutes because it‘s a lot easier to cut semi-frozen meat.

First, thinly slice ½ onion.

Next, cut 1 green onion/scallion diagonally into thin slices. Set aside.

Then, remove ½ lb thinly sliced beef (such as ribeye) from the freezer. Cut the semi-frozen meat into pieces 3 inches (7.6 cm) wide.

In a large frying pan (do not turn on the heat yet), add ½ cup dashi, 2 Tbsp sake, 2 Tbsp mirin, 3 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1 Tbsp sugar. Stir to combine and dissolve the sugar.

Next, add the onion slices and spread them in the broth throughout the pan, separating the onion layers.

Then, distribute the meat on top of the onions. Separate the thin slices of beef so the meat covers the onions.

Cover the pan with a lid. Now, turn on the heat to medium and start cooking. Once simmering, turn down the heat to simmer and cook, covered, for 3–4 minutes.

While simmering, open the lid and skim off the scum and fat from the broth once or twice with a fine-mesh skimmer.

Sprinkle the green onions on top and cook covered for another minute.

Divide 2 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice into large donburi bowls. Then, drizzle some of the pan sauce on top of the rice.

Put the beef and onion mixture on top of the rice. If you’d like, drizzle additional remaining sauce on top. Top the gyudon with pickled red ginger. Enjoy!